Photos from October 18-20, 2018 Edition

Gospel and R&B legend Mavis Staples, right, was among the headliners on Saturday at the Richmond Folk Festival. (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

Sona Jobarteh of Gambia is one of the first female virtuosos on the 21-string kora, an instrument played mostly in West Africa. Richmond’s riverfront was alive with music last weekend for the 14th Annual Richmond Folk Festival. Thousands of people flocked to the free, three-day festival where more than 30 performers and entertainers from around the globe were on seven stages. (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

Larry Bland and the Volunteer Choir provide a performance to remember last Sunday, the Richmond Folk Festival’s final day. (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

Heart talk: Heartthrob Lamman Rucker, left, who starred as Jill Scott’s love interest in Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married?” and “Why Did I Get Married Too?” speaks about heart health Saturday at the Spirit of the Heart Health Initiative at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. The community health and education fair, sponsored by the Association of Black Cardiologists and Dr. Phillip Duncan of Richmond, also offered a variety of health screenings. (Ava Reaves)

Heart talk: Ronald Bowie of Prince George has his blood sugar level checked by Kimberly Ketter, a nurse practitioner with Case Management Associates of Petersburg at the Spirit of the Heart Health Initiative at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. (Ava Reaves)

Remembering Gabriel: Nearly two dozen people gathered Oct. 10 to mark the 218th anniversary of the death of Gabriel, the enslaved blacksmith who planned a rebellion in 1800 in what is now Henrico County. Gabriel fled after his plan was thwarted. He was captured near Norfolk and returned to the Richmond area where he was hanged on Oct. 10, 1800, in the area near the African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom. Last week’s commemoration was hosted by the Sacred Ground Reclamation Project of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, which advocates for a 9-acre memorial park to be created on the site. (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

Anita Johnson reads the plaque at an obelisk erected in memory of the African-Americans buried on the site near Broad and 15th Street. (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

This broken railing at George Washington Carver Elementary School on West Leigh Street is on track for repair as the result of the intervention of a volunteer and a generous donor.
Evidence that even small repairs to school buildings can get dragged out, the railing fix has been on the to-do list of Richmond Public Schools since at least the summer, according to City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District.
The broken piece now sits in front of emergency exit doors from the school’s basement auditorium. (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

This broken railing at George Washington Carver Elementary School on West Leigh Street is on track for repair as the result of the intervention of a volunteer and a generous donor.
Evidence that even small repairs to school buildings can get dragged out, the railing fix has been on the to-do list of Richmond Public Schools since at least the summer, according to City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District.
The broken piece now sits in front of emergency exit doors from the school’s basement auditorium. (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

A moth in South Side (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

Cooing with the music: Five-month-old Coen Cheeley enjoys the music from the arms of mother Laura Cheeley at the Richmond Folk Festival last Saturday on Brown’s Island. The free, three-day event on the Downtown riverfront, produced by Venture Richmond and the City of Richmond, drew musicians from across the nation and around the globe and large, appreciative crowds through the weekend. (Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press)

The Bowie State University dancers perform for the fans at last Saturday’s homecoming game in Maryland against Virginia State University.